Withholdings

You can file the week under earned income as far as I’m concerned. Seemed like everyone, including us, was working harder to stay in good form. This time of year I seem to be more aware I’m working better than 30% harder for the same result.

There are two types of people that gripe about paying taxes. Men and Women.

The tax settlement deadline got pushed off to Monday the 18th. The IRS gave procrastinators three more days to deduct pleasure and relaxation out of their weekend. That’s twisted man. Just rip off the tape and be done with it already.

David Sottilare, owner of Trinity Fine Jewelers in Tomball, showed us that federal withholding left him with a manually operated Harley Davidson.

It’s hard to see the sticker on the frame but that is a Harley bicycle. A true collectors ride. The feds may have taken the rumble out of his motor, but David is sporting around town a few lbs lighter so he’s feeling okay about the big picture.

To help ease taxing tension, we ran a get 2 for the price of 3 Elm Street Taco special.

It worked like this: you buy three tacos and we withhold one to add to the someone else’s plate. The promotion was designed to redistribute taco wealth. The plan failed as we didn’t sell any of the specials. You folks caught on rather quickly to our little taco ponzi scheme. Mostly, I think folks just didn’t need another reminder the federal government leaves us with only about 60% of what we earn. Sorry to bring it up.

I did see some examples this week of our federal tax dollars at work, and that almost made me feel better about our money getting put to good use.

Federal regulations require that The Craftory is handicap accessible. Dr. Pepper Ron made good use our our wheelchair ramp. That pink cast was a nice touch is what I told Ron.

In all seriousness though, we do have many folks visit us that need easy access to our building. Not sure we would have put that ramp in if not required to by law, but it does hurt to give the feds credit for anything. That’s all I have to say about that topic.

One more thing on taxes…sorry.

Maybe it’s just me but taxes do seem easier to swallow when “take more of my pay” pivots to “I’ll pay more to take” as weird as that sounds. That is what happens when you buy some barbecue from Janie. Like any cafe or merchant, we are required by Texas to tack on a 8.25% sales tax. 1% goes to the city of Tomball where it is a little easier to see what the dollars are up to. I like that.

Our city sales tax dollars goes towards stuff like parking signs.

You guys might be noticing more delivery and service trucks using the alley. That’s on us.

A really good use for a portion of the 1% city sales tax is having Tomball Police Officers like Jeff and Gary on the payroll looking out for us. I have seen these guys cut lunch short a time or two to rush out on some police bidness. It’s always a pleasure having them in the house.

I posted this picture on our Facebook page and it got more attention than anything we’ve ever posted. I happened to be standing by the counter when a lady came over saying that she noticed there were 5 police officers having lunch. She bought 10 of our S’more bites and asked us to bring them to the officers. She asked to remain anonymous and simply tell them thank you for their service. As of this blog post, the post on Facebook is over 15,000 hits. That is a pretty sweet moment for our community.

Just a little more about taxes…sorry again.

If it sometimes feels like some of our tax dollars does go up in smoke think of this:

as long as the smoke is thin and blue the pit master will deserve a toast –

because that kind of smoke makes for good barbecue to eat with people you like.

Good barbecue makes people happy like Grady and Sandra who always seem to have grabbed fun by the horns.

For some folks; however, ordering decisions are no laughing matter.

This dad was trying to negotiate his way past the chocolate display to the barbecue counter. Notice that the little girl already has the hand on hip body language stance nailed down pretty good.

Before I move on to the weekly picture and major award I wanted to mention that I’ve noticed a few people turning away to leave when we have a bit of a line at times.

I first want to thank you all for coming and making this line happen. Our customers are the best. We do our best to make the line move efficiently. The line is rarely more than a 10 minute wait. If you do decide to leave rather than stay in line that is fine, but consider this. By the time you get to where you are going you could already be eating barbecue like pictured below.

While in line, we can get you something to drink if you like. Perhaps you can enjoy a pre-meal relaxing beverage. I’m just saying…

One dish popular among those in line is our beef short ribs. Here is a close up look at the rub prior to cooking.

The rub is heavy on cocoa, coffee, and ancho chili. Our beef short ribs are long on flavor.

The first quarter winning pictures have been posted in an album on our Facebook page Go there to pick your favorite. Just hit like for your favorite picture and your vote is cast. We are going to have a name plate placed on a chair in Carnivore’s Hall in honor of the winner. Voting will be open until next Sunday at 3:00 PM. It’s been fun to watch the likes add up. Chris Clement’s sandwich picture as rallied of late to take the lead.

This weeks winner belongs to Michael Baxter for his breakfast taco and red ripple coffee cup.

Nice shot Michael. We have you down for a $10 gift card and entry in the 2nd QTR Major Award.